At the closing of the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, the CEO of CNES, François Jacq, handed over the commitments of the 27 founding members of the Space4Ocean (S4O) Alliance to Ambassador Peter Thomson, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Ocean. This high-level event, organized by the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in the negotiation zone, officially marks the birth of S4O, a pioneering initiative led by CNES to harness space technology for the preservation of the oceans.
These Declarations of Interest were previously signed at a signature event held on June 9 at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Nice, attended by nearly 140 participants. Organized under the auspices of the Minister of Research Philippe Baptiste, CNES COO Lionel Suchet, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Principality of Monaco Isabelle Berro-Amadéi, Norwegian Minister of Trade, Industry and Fisheries Elisabeth Norgård Gabrielsen, and in the presence of the President of the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur and Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, as well as ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Women’s world record in Rebreather diving Dr. Gaëlle Giesen, this event marked a key milestone for the Alliance.
S4O: a collaborative and operational response to ocean challenges
The Space4Ocean Alliance is an international action-oriented coalition aimed at better connecting the space sector with marine and maritime actors to strengthen efforts to preserve, conserve, and protect the ocean in its entirety, including coastal areas. Grounded on science and leveraging space data combined with in situ measurements and advanced digital models, the Alliance addresses key ocean and coastal challenges, contributing to global policy frameworks such as UNESCO’s Ocean Decade 2030 Agenda, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and especially the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 14.
Key objectives of the Space4Ocean Alliance
- Strengthen collaboration between the space community and marine, maritime, and other relevant stakeholders to effectively meet needs and priorities for ocean and coastal management.
- Address observational and operational gaps through innovative space missions and applications.
- Build capacities by promoting best practices, expanding access to observation data, and fostering training initiatives, with particular emphasis on frontline communities affected by climate change and increased anthropogenic pressures, such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
- Support the development of evidence-based local, regional, and global ocean indicators of marine environment health to guide decisions and integrated management policies.
- Support and promote the delivery of operational services addressing critical ocean issues:
- Marine biodiversity protection: enhanced monitoring of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to safeguard ecosystems.
- Climate change impacts: observation and assessment of ocean and coastal responses to climate change, natural disasters, and extreme events.
- Sustainable blue economy: promotion of sustainable practices in fisheries, aquaculture, maritime energy, and decarbonized shipping.
- Pollution control: detection and mitigation of marine and coastal pollution.
- Coastal zone management: development of tools to manage coastal ecosystems under increasing anthropogenic pressures.
- Maritime security: enhanced surveillance to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
The Space4Ocean Alliance offers an international platform for coordinated action, integrating space technologies with ocean sciences to deliver effective and sustainable solutions for the future. Its operation will rely on existing international organizations.
The Space4Ocean Alliance reflects the crucial role of space data in serving the ocean. Through space technologies, we are helping to build a sustainable future for generations to come.
- Head of the Earth Observation Program at CNES
Collaborative and inclusive governance
By bringing together the spatial and marine and maritime expertise of its members and facilitating the transformation of their data and applications into operational services, the Alliance aims to amplify existing solutions and make them accessible to all developing countries, especially those lacking space capabilities, to improve sustainable management of the ocean.
Guided by a committee composed of the signatory members—space agencies, UN organizations, marine and maritime actors, scientific organizations, and international stakeholders—the Space4Ocean Alliance will adopt a collaborative governance model based on dialogue and complementarity with existing initiatives.
By fostering an action-driven approach involving technical and scientific communities as well as state partners among developing countries, the initial 27 signatories, soon to be joined by many others wishing to participate, have paved the way for coordinated action ensuring the implementation of effective and sustainable solutions for the ocean’s future.
